One campaigner who signed, ‘Sam C’, said online: ‘Gove telling teachers how to teach is like a child telling a surgeon how to remove an appendix because they've played a game of operation.'

Some are not so keen at the idea, however.Jenny Landreth commented on Twitter: ‘Sign petition for Gove to teach for a term? No way. Wouldn't put my kids through it, so can't ask other kids to endure it either.’

The Education Secretary has already come under fire this week after claiming the BBC sitcom 'Blackadder Goes Forth' 'belittled' Britain.